Bottled Water Industry Provides Water to Tornado Victims

The International Bottled Water Assn. (IBWA) is working with its member bottlers to deliver critical supplies of bottled water to victims of the devastating tornado that ripped through the town of Moore, Okla. As with past disasters, IBWA member bottlers began responding immediately to provide substantial supplies of bottled water to those affected.

Working in coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); state, county and municipal emergency management agencies; and emergency relief partners including the American Red Cross and AmeriCares, IBWA’s members have so far supplied nearly 400,000 bottles of clean and safe drinking water to the disaster victims. However, this figure captures only what member companies have so far reported; the actual amount of bottled water supplied to recovery efforts is likely much larger.

“IBWA member companies are working around the clock to get bottled water to impacted areas in several ways. In coordination with AmeriCares, one member company has already delivered nearly 250,000 single-serve containers of bottled water to food banks and shelters in the region and to support first responders,” said Chris Hogan, IBWA vice president of communications. “An Oklahoma-based member company coordinated two deliveries of bottled water totaling nearly 36,000 containers to Feed the Children in support of [its] disaster relief efforts. Even a small member company from northern Texas donated a pallet of 1,800 containers of bottled water as part of a locally coordinated donation that was sent to Moore."

“Other IBWA members are working through Convoy of Hope, which has mobilized a rapid response team, complete with emergency relief supplies, to the hardest hit areas of Moore,” Hogan added. “A member company that has worked with Convoy of Hope on disaster relief efforts since 2005 has already provided more than 100,000 bottles of water to Moore relief efforts. The company actually had water on the Convoy trucks the night of the event and in Moore ready for distribution early in the morning, the day after the storm.”